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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. branch — a division
  3. net — in sport
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wind — moving air
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. net — after costs
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. race — humankind
  12. stem — to come from
  13. race — the arms race
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. race — a contest
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. fall — to drop
  18. net — for catching
  19. wind — moving air
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. field — farmland
  23. kid — to tease
  24. stem — a stem cell

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com